Blogrank

Pinterest Raises $100 Million From Investment Group Led by Rakuten

Amazingly, it is Rakuten and not one of the typical US players who are betting on Pinterest, one of the hottest e-commerce startups of the day. Together with the existing investors, the Japanese concern has invested $100 million:

"Rakuten, one of the world's largest online marketplaces, today announced that it is leading a $100M investment in Pinterest, with participation from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, and FirstMark Capital, as well as a number of angel investors."

Thanks for sharing this article! I just recently created a Pinterest account for myself and I've been doing some research online to see just what it's all about. I'm not convinced that it's the "next Facebook," since the two sites seem to serve very different purposes, and perhaps even cater to different media users entirely. However, this huge investment by Rakuten seems to indicate that Pinterest is here to stay. Glad I jumped on that bandwagon now.

I've been a reluctant supporter of Pinterest. I think, it's a really great site, with a really cool approach to social media, but I can honestly say I don't know if there is room for another social media powerhouse. Also, when you look at the demographic of Pinterest users you will see that it is overwhelmingly weighted towards women users. I think that fact alone will play into the viability of Pinterest and whoever purchases the site, is buying it for that demographic. Thanks for the post!